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Katie Benally
Katherine Noelle Benally '(born December 25, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Global Pro Wrestling where she is in her sixth reign as Women's Hardcore Champion. She is a third-generation wrestler being from the famous Benally wrestling family. '''Early life ' Benally was born on December 25, 1995 in Phoenix, Arizona. She is the youngest of five children born to Bruce Benally & Jane Vickers. She has three older brothers and an older sister who are all wrestlers as well. Benally excelled in karate and gymnastics in her youth. She maintained straight A's and was a very popular student in school. She played soccer and volleyball in high school and graduated first in her class. Despite all of this, she never went to college, instead choosing to work for a year before going into wrestling. 'Pro wrestling career ' 'Early career ' Benally trained under her father as did her siblings. She had her first match in February 2014 wrestling under her real name defeating Kelly Krossley. 'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2014-2015) ' Benally started working for TNA wrestling under the ring name Amber Van Doren. Her gimmick was that she was a spoiled rich girl from Santa Monica, California. She made her initial debut as a heel, defeating the likes of Madison Rayne, Brittany (Santana Garrett) & Gail Kim. '''Feud with Gail Kim & Knockouts Champion ' Her first major feud was against Gail Kim, whom she would trade wins with. The feud was essentially a Best of Seven series which culminated in a match at Slammiversary. The two met in a Two out of Three Falls Match for the Knockouts Championship, which Van Doren was victorious, winning her very first championship. She would hold the title until October when she lost the title back to Kim at Bound For Glory. In January 2015, Benally was released from her TNA contract. '''AAA (2015-2017) ' Benally debuted in AAA in February 2015, debuting under a mask as Chica Tigresa (Tiger Lady). She debuted as a face, and teamed up with El Tigre Nino (later known to modern fans as Tiger Kid) Together, the duo won the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship on two occasions. They held the titles for a combined two years during those two reigns. After they lost the Mixed Tag Team Championship, Tigresa entered into a feud with the recently turned rudo ''Sexy Star. The feud culminated in a ''Mascara con Mascara ''(Mask vs. Mask) match at ''TripleMania ''which Sexy Star won. '''Unmasking and final months in AAA ' Upon losing her mask, Tigresa started compiling a losing streak. She blamed her losing her mask as a reason for her losing matches as her focus was drained. On March 2, 2017, Benally was released from her AAA contract. 'Global Pro Wrestling (2017-present) ' 'Madison Clingan's "Bodyguard" ' Benally made her GPW debut as a "hired gun" for Women's Hardcore Champion Madison Clingan, thus establishing herself as a heel. She referred to herself as Katherine Benally. Her gimmick was that she was a "bodyguard" for the heel champions (Madison Clingan, specifically.) She debuted on the April 21 episode of ''PUMPED! after Wrestling Extravaganza 2017 '''attacking Madison's opponent from the event, Rebecca Ortiz. Later on in the night, she attacked Lisa Salas after she won her match with Olivia Zynda. The next week on ''PUMPED!, Madison and Benally teamed up with Zynda to defeat the team of Rebecca Ortiz, Lisa Salas & Violet Masca in a Six Woman Tag Match. On the May 5 edition of PUMPED!, ''Benally had her first singles match, losing to Lisa Salas by disqualification after she used a steel chair on her. This led to GM Pete Beckley making a match for ''Desire, pitting Madison & Benally against Lisa Salas & Rebecca Ortiz with the Women's Hardcore Championship on the line. At ''Desire, ''Madison retained the Women's Hardcore Championship by pinning Rebecca Ortiz. Face turn and feud with Madison Clingan ''' On the May 19 episode of ''PUMPED! ''Benally lost to Lisa Salas by pinfall, marking her first official loss in GPW. The next week on ''PUMPED!, ''Madison started berating Benally for losing the previous week. Benally started showing signs of a face turn when she refused to help Madison in her match against Rebecca Ortiz. She fully turned face on the June 2 edition of ''PUMPED! ''which took place in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. There, she knocked out Madison with the Women's Hardcore Championship and pinned her, invoking the 24/7 rule. At ''Summer Bash, ''she lost the Hardcore Championship back to Madison in a four corners match that also involved Rebecca Ortiz & Lisa Salas. On the June 23 edition of ''PUMPED! which much like the June 2 episode, took place in Phoenix, she won the Women's Hardcore Championship back for the second time in her hometown. '''Alliance with RoxEmma and feud with Les Femmes Fatales ' During the June 30 episode of ''PUMPED! '''RoxEmma came out to celebrate their Women's Tag Team Championship victory, when they were jumped by all three members of Les Femmes Fatales. Benally came out with a steel chair in her hand to make the save, thus solidifying her face turn. A six woman tag team match was made for later on in the night with RoxEmma & Katie Benally winning. '''Personal life ' Benally is openly lesbian. In 2018, she came out as gay on Twitter. As far as her religious views go, she describes herself as spiritual, but not religious. She is a die-hard fan of the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns & Arizona Coyotes and has often worn ring gear with each teams colors. She also roots for the Arizona State Sun Devils football team. Her cousin Laura McNeil is a cheerleader for the Arizona Cardinals. 'In wrestling ' 'Championships & accomplishments ' 'Global Pro Wrestling ' * GPW Women's Hardcore Championship (6 times) 'Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide ' * AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship (2 times) w/El Tigre Nino 'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ' * TNA Knockouts Championship (1 time)